And now, for the analysis. This is the second of two posts that we will be publishing today, the contents of which will contain two regional preview RTC Podblasts each — make sure to check out the East and Midwest podblasts that were released this morning. We continue the series this afternoon with a breakdown of the South Region bracket, inviting RTC national columnist Bennet Hayes (@hoopstraveler) in to talk through whether the Gators are really the best team in America. We follow that up with analysis of the West Region bracket, bringing national columnist/Pac-12 guru Andrew Murawa (@amurawa) in to discuss a west-coast flavored region that appears to be Arizona and the Rest. The full rundowns are below. Be sure to add the podcast to your lineup on iTunes so that you’ll get all of our ongoing coverage throughout the NCAA Tournament.

South Region

• 0:00-7:17 – Florida the Favorite
• 7:17-17:38 – UCLA, Kansas and Syracuse Try to Knock Off #1 Overall Seed
• 17:38-20:36 – VCU, Stephen 5. Austin and The Trendy #5/#12 Upset
• 20:36-25:18 – #7/#10 and #8/#9 Games
• 25:18-26:50 – Seeding Injustices in the South
• 26:50-27:58 – Great Potential Match-ups
• 27:58-30:52 – Bennet’s Pick for the South

West Region

• 0:00-6:03 – Arizona Hands Down Favorite
• 6:03-10:41 – Top Challengers For Arizona
• 10:41-13:28 – Match-ups For McBuckets
• 13:28-14:57 – Potential Upsets For the 4/5 Seeds
• 14:57-15:57 – Mis-seeded Teams
• 15:57-19:21 – #8/#9 and #7/#10 Games
• 19:21-21:22 – Dark Horse Sweet Sixteen Teams
• 21:22-23:23 – Predicting MOP
• 23:23-24:45 – Dream Match-ups
• 24:45-26:35 – Madness and Offense Could Reign Supreme in the West
• 26:35-28:59 – West Coast Teams in the West Region
• 28:59-30:31 – Non-Arizona Picks

One of the biggest stories of Selection Sunday was SMU missing the field. The Mustangs, which hadn’t made the Tournament in two long decades, were widely considered a lock for the field in the closing weeks of the regular season, particularly since winning at UConn on February 23. And yet they’ll be hosting an NIT game versus UC Irvine on Wednesday night. Did Larry Browns’ team deserve its unkind bracket fate?

As one could imagine, Larry Brown (center) and his SMU squad didn’t have the best Sunday afternoon. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

Selection committee Chairman Ron Wellman said that SMU was the last team out of the tournament. “As we looked at SMU, they certainly passed the eye test,” he told a conference call of reporters on Sunday night. “They’re a very good team, had a very good year.” Wellman continued:

When you’re making these selections, you’re looking for differentiators. Is there anything that stands out, on the positive side or negative side of the ledger, that will cause you to absolutely take that team or really look at prioritizing and selecting other teams? In SMU’s case their downfall, their weakness, was their schedule. Their non-conference strength of schedule was ranked number 302 out of 350 teams eligible for the tournament. It’s one of the worst non-conference strengths of schedule. Their overall strength of schedule was ranked 129. One-twenty-nine would have been by far the worst at large strength of schedule going into the tournament. The next worst at large strength of schedule was 91. Really the glaring weakness about SMU was their schedule.

Read the rest of this entry »

March Madness is finally upon us, and we here at RTC are here to make everything a little bit easier for you. From the First Four until One Shining Moment, we’ll be dropping daily tidbits of knowledge regarding the teams in each region.

South Region

• While Michigan State is a trendy pick to win it all, Florida, as the number one overall seed, remains the favorite at 4-1 odds.
• While Colorado coach Tad Boyle always gives his players credit, his players credit their “superstar” coach for this season’s success.
• Pittsburgh has had some tumultuous results in past NCAA Tournaments, but this year they’re looking to change history.
• Though VCU lost in the A-10 Tournament final, they still did well with the viewers at home.
• The NCAA Tournament is their prime focus right now, but UCLA standouts Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams, and Zach LaVine all have NBA decisions lurking on the horizon.
• The other Ohio schools have a severe bias against Ohio State. Here is Benjamin Lanka’s plea for Dayton to dethrone the Buckeyes.
• Though a ticket in Buffalo is a tough get with Syracuse coming to town, spectators will be able to watch each team practice this Wednesday. 
• Excited about benefiting from extra rest, New Mexico coach Craig Neal and the Lobos are looking  to take care of some “unfinished business.“
• Stanford, in the words of coach Johnny Dawkins, are “relieved, but not vindicated” about finally reaching the NCAA Tournament. Even though his job was at stake, Dawkins never mentioned his job security to the team, and simply tried to put on the “blinders” to focus on basketball.
• Against a potentially dangerous Eastern Kentucky team, Kansas coach Bill Self has the Jayhawks focused on defending the three-point line, college basketball’s great equalizer.

West Region

• Arizona is coming into the NCAA Tournament with high expectations, but coach Sean Miller just wants the Wildcats to “focus on what’s in front of them.“
• Did sophomore superstar Marcus Smart’s suspension cost Oklahoma State a better seed? The unfortunate truth is that we’ll never know.
• Even though the Sooners made the Tournament last year, Oklahoma is ready to win at least one game this season. The road begins against a “really good” North Dakota State team.
• For San Diego State leader Xavier Thames, a move from Washington State to SDSU proved to be an opportunity to continue his knack for stepping up in clutch moments. As the Aztecs reach yet another NCAA Tournament, the message of his father rings ever true: “Do not be afraid of the moment.”
• They were dead in the water earlier this season, but could Baylor be the NCAA Tournament’s “most dangerous sleeper?” Brad Evans certainly thinks so.
• Even though Creighton is eyeing a deep run, it isn’t going to overlook its first round opponent, Louisiana-Lafayette. With Elfrid Payton’s 19 points per game, no one in Omaha is taking the Ragin’ Cajuns lightly.
• Even though March Madness is known for upsets and Cinderellas, BYU is getting disrespected with a rematch against Oregon in sight. 
• Oregon, unlike BYU, is getting love to win the rematch. However, sophomore Damyean Dotson is calling the Tournament a “new season.”
• Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan is in the NCAAs yet again, but this time his whole coaching tree – including Virginia’s Tony Bennett, North Dakota State’s Saul Phillips, and UW-Milwaukee’s Rob Jeter – is here with him.

Read the rest of this entry »

And now, for the analysis. Welcome to the first of two posts that we will be publishing today, the contents of which will contain two regional preview RTC Podblasts each. We’ll start with a breakdown of the East Region bracket, inviting RTC national columnist Brian Otskey (@botskey) in to talk things through what appears to be a wild region with us. We follow that up with analysis of the Midwest Region bracket, inviting national columnist Walker Carey (@walkerRcarey) in to discuss a very difficult draw for #1 seed Wichita State. The full rundowns are below. Be sure to add the podcast to your lineup on iTunes so that you’ll get all of our ongoing coverage throughout the NCAA Tournament.

East Region

• 0:00-3:31 – Virginia as a #1 Seed and Region Favorite
• 3:34-10:25 – Which Top Seed is the Real Favorite
• 10:25-12:25 – Providence’s Big East Run – Hitting Their Stride or Peaking Too Early?
• 12:25-16:11 – 8/9 and 7/10 Games Preview
• 16:11-23:10 – Potential Upsets and Darkhorses
• 23:10-25:22 – Match-up Issues for Virginia
• 25:22-26:40 – Dream Match Ups
• 26:40-30:30 – Regional Games at MSG

Midwest Region

• 0:00-4:34 – Louisville as the Real Favorite in the Midwest
• 4:34-7:33 – UMass Prone For an Upset?
• 7:33-13:04 – Previewing 7/10 and 8/9 Game
• 13:04-13:53 – Conference Tournaments Impact on Midwest Region
• 13:53-16:35 – TJ Warren and the Fightin’ NC States
• 16:35-21:34 – Wichita State’s Realistic Expectations in this Region
• 21:35-23:28 – Predicting an MOP in the Midwest
• 23:28-25:49 – Most Exciting Thing About the Region
• 25:49-28:08 – Dream Match-Ups

The month of March is one that brings joy to many college basketball programs across the country, as they now have the chance to chase a national championship via the NCAA Tournament (or to a lesser extent, an NIT title that at least yields a banner). But as many know, March is often a time of despondency across the college basketball landscape. It starts with the teams that had their hopes dashed on Selection Sunday when their names weren’t called, but it also extends to the programs whose seasons are completely over. That’s where the dark days in March occur, and Virginia Tech’s James Johnson experienced such a day today as he was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Hokies after a mere two seasons on the bench.

James Johnson’s uninspiring term at Virginia Tech ended after only two years (newsleader.com)

Johnson was considered something of a surprise hire when he replaced the ousted Seth Greenberg two years ago. In fact, he had never been a head coach at all, having recently left Blacksburg to take on a similar assistant coaching role at Clemson. Instead, Greenberg’s messy exit coupled with resounding support from the holdover players convinced the administration to hire Johnson to take over the program, citing in particular his recruiting ability for some of the better teams of the Greenberg era. He inherited a bad team in his first season that only produced 13 wins, even with ACC Player of the Year and eventual pro Erick Green on the roster. His follow-up nine-win campaign, which resulted in a dead-last performance in a 15-team ACC, was due to an extremely underwhelming roster. In the preseason, Johnson made the bizarre decision to name an incoming freshman team captain despite the presence of seniors Jarell Eddie and Cadarian Raines returning. And it wasn’t a superstar talent like Jabari Parker who was named the leader, either; it was two- or three-star guard Ben Emelogu. Emelogu had a decent start to his first college campaign, but he was far from a star.

Read the rest of this entry »

March Madness is finally upon us, and we here at RTC are here to make everything a little bit easier for you. From the First Four until One Shining Moment, we’ll be dropping daily tidbits of knowledge regarding the teams in each region.

South Region

• Florida locked up the number one overall seed with a gutsy SEC Tournament victory over Kentucky. One of the reasons the Gators are favored to go all the way is because they know how to win close games, or in other words, simply don’t know how to lose.
• When Colorado lost its star guard, Spencer Dinwiddie, the Buffs rallied around the movie Seabiscuit to turn things around. They still hold the movie’s message with them as they head into the NCAA Tournament.
  
• Though it’s tempting to look ahead to a potential match-up against Florida, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon is just trying to focus on Colorado.
  
• Having now won 28 games in a row, Stephen F. Austin is a trendy pick to be this year’s Cinderella.
• After winning the Pac-12 Tournament, UCLA is coming into the NCAA Tournament very hot.
• Though Ohio State won’t schedule a road game against in-state rival Dayton, Thad Matta is not about to overlook the Flyers. 
• According to freshman Tyler Ennis, Syracuse needs to “get everybody confident” if the Orange want to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.
• Craig Neal continued New Mexico’s recent domination of the Mountain West Tournament in his first season.
• With his job on the line, Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins finally got over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament.
• In the midst of recent Ohio Valley Conference success in the NCAA Tournament, Eastern Kentucky is looking to score the program’s first ever Tournament victory over Kansas. Though it will be a formidable test, the Colonels are thinking: “why not us?”
• Andrew Wiggins and Kansas think they can do it without freshman center Joel Embiid, but they know that “Jo-Jo” makes them even scarier.

West Region

• Sean Miller has returned Arizona basketball to prominence, and despite the adversity the Wildcats faced in the second half of the season, look for them to be contenders in the final weekend.
• Though Oklahoma State may only be a #9 seed, they have the talent to make some noise. 
• Gonzaga‘s streak of 16 straight NCAA Tournaments isn’t just impressive for a mid-major, it’s impressive for any program.
• Oklahoma is the fifth team Lon Kruger has taken to the NCAA Tournament. He’s been able to do so, in part, because of his “positive attitude.”
• To North Dakota State, the #12 seed is a sign of respect for the program. Now the Bison look to pull the classic #5/#12 upset.
• With only two Mountain West teams making the field of 68, San Diego State certainly got a better deal than New Mexico did.
• Baylor started slowly in Big 12 play, but it hopes to continue its late-season surge into the NCAA Tournament.
• Though the two teams had separate feelings going into Selection Sunday, in-state rivals Nebraska and Creighton are on a third-round “collision course.”
  
• BYU was ecstatic to hear its name called on the Selection Show, and thinks it has a chance to notch an opening round victory over Oregon.
• Though the Ducks got blown out in their Pac-12 Tournament loss to UCLA, don’t expect Oregon to succumb to the same fate against BYU.
• Some experts are loving Wisconsin‘s path in the West Region.

Read the rest of this entry »

And just like that, it’s settled. Other than Louisiana-Lafayette‘s thrilling overtime victory over Georgia State in the Sun Belt championship game Sunday afternoon, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee made its executive decision on the 36 at-large teams that will remain on this year’s Circle of March. Just two short weeks ago, we started with 340 eligible teams; now, we’re down to a mere 68, and it will be among that group from which we’ll crown this season’s national champion in a mere 21 more days. Can we get to Thursday afternoon already?

Teams Eliminated From National Title Contention (03.16.14)

• Arkansas
• California
• Clemson
• Florida State
• Georgia State
• Green Bay
• Indiana State
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• SMU
• Southern Miss
• St. John’s

There wasn’t a whole lot of controversy this year, but several decisions by the NCAA Selection Committee certainly raised some eyebrows. In an effort to briefly hit on a few of those points in the hours immediately following the bracket’s release this evening, the RTC Podblast crew, hosted by Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) walked through a few quick n’ dirty reactions. The guys will return with detailed analyses of each of the four regions on Tuesday, followed by a number of quick-hit podblasts throughout the rest of the week. Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. The full rundown is below.

• 0:00-4:55 – Initial Bracket Reactions/The Questionable Louisville Seeding
• 4:55- 6:02 – Other Bracket Surprises
• 6:02-6:53 – Teams With the Easiest Roads
• 6:53-8:33 – Regions Stacked With Talent
• 8:33-11:34 – Takeaways From Conference Tournaments Heading Into the Big Dance
• 11:34-12:25 – Virginia Gets Final #1 Seed
• 12:25-13:41 – Lower Seeds That Can Make a Run
• 13:41-15:30 – Upset Possibilities
• 15:30- Previewing The Week in RTC’s Coverage of March Madness (Bracket Nonsense, etc.)

Sunday night, the Big 12 realized the rewards of an outstanding 2013-14 season. Back in November, the league was expected to top out at five NCAA bids, but a league record-tying seven schools heard their names called on Selection Sunday. The conference’s selection of NCAA Tournament participants run the gamut from national title contender (Kansas, if the Jayhawks live long enough to see the return of Joel Embiid) to trendy second weekend picks like Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma State, to a trio that not only outperformed preseason expectations but cemented their standings without needing extra wins over this weekend to do so (Texas, Kansas State and Oklahoma). The league may not have a team that you can feel great about locking in for an appearance in Dallas in early April, but you can say the same thing for most power conferences around the country.

The Jayhawks have national title aspirations, but can they get past a potential match-up against New Mexico without Joel Embiid? (USA Today)

Kansas (Brian Goodman)

• Seed: #2 South
• Quick First Round Preview: Kansas will square off against the 15-seed Eastern Kentucky Colonels, winners of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Jayhawks shouldn’t have much trouble handling them — even without Joel Embiid in the lineup — but Jeff Neubauer’s senior-laden team operates with the nation’s fourth-best effective field-goal percentage (57 percent) and turns opponents over at a rate of 24.2 percent.
• Intriguing Potential Future Matchup: A second-round match-up against New Mexico will await the Jayhawks provided both teams take care of business. Bill Self‘s team beat Craig Neal’s in Kansas City just three months ago, but New Mexico forward Cameron Bairstow didn’t have much trouble against Kansas’ front line even with Embiid, as he led the Lobos with 24 points in the losing effort.
• Final Word: The Jayhawks reap the rewards of their historically intense non-conference schedule and relative walk to their 10th straight Big 12 regular season title with favorable placement in St. Louis, just a five-hour drive from Lawrence. Traveling Jayhawks fans will be in for a treat, as they can catch Wichita State, Kentucky and fellow Big 12 member Kansas State all under one roof.

Iowa State (Kory Carpenter)

Read the rest of this entry »

Six Pac-12 teams were invited to the NCAA Tournament today. Let’s break down each of them in this instareaction format.

Arizona – NCAA, #1 seed in West region, San Diego pod, vs. Weber State, 3/21 – The Pac-12’s regular season champion earns a #1 seed and gets to play in San Diego and Anaheim until the Final Four in Arlington. The selection committee didn’t throw us any curveballs with this one, as each of the major prognostications have had the Wildcats on the top line and staying out west for some time now. They get Big Sky champion Weber State in the opener, and while the potential Third Round game is much more interesting, we’ll get to that in a moment. The Wildcats from Ogden finished the year at 19-11 and won both conference tournament games by an average of 12 points. Senior guard/forward Davison Berry is their only main offensive threat, averaging 19.1 PPG. Weber lost by 23 at UCLA in their final game before Christmas break, it’s only Pac-12 competition of the season.  Sean Miller’s team will face either Gonzaga or Oklahoma State in that one. The Bulldogs are the only team besides Creighton in this region that will travel as well as Arizona fans, so that potential matchup wouldn’t necessarily be a “home game” for the Cats. If it’s Oklahoma State in that second game, the one seed gets a hot Cowboy team; always a dangerous matchup come tournament time. They have won five of their last seven, with the two losses coming against Top 20 opponents in overtime. Sophomore point guard Marcus Smart is a difficult matchup for anybody, and Senior Markel Brown is averaging over 17 PPG. Oklahoma State went 3-1 against opponents shared with Arizona (Colorado and Texas Tech), while the Wildcats are 3-0.

Arizona’s Back In The Familiar Spot of A 1-Seed And An NCAA Favorite (Casey Sapio, USA Today)

UCLA – NCAA, #4 seed in South region, San Diego pod , vs. Tulsa, 3/21 – When UCLA fans saw their team pop up on the #4 line in San Diego, they had to be pleased; their team not only earns a high seed, but also gets to play just a quick jaunt down Interstate 5. That pleasure, however, was probably short-lived, as Tulsa appearing on the #13 line across from them likely brought back some bad memories of a game 20 years ago in 1994, when a Tubby Smith-coached Tulsa team hung 112 on Ed O’Bannon, Tyus Edney and Jim Harrick’s squad and booted the Bruins in round one. Back in 1994, UCLA was a young and talented team that had yet to consistently live up to its vast potential despite flashes of brilliance, quite similar to the Bruins 20 years later. Back then, Tulsa was a team that went 15-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference largely on the stretch of an up-tempo offense and a pair of big-time scorers (Gary Collier and Shea Seals – who combined for 54 in the win over UCLA) for an up-and-coming head coach. This time around, second-year head coach Danny Manning has Tulsa getting it done mostly on the defensive end, with undersized grinders keeping the Golden Hurricane in the top 30 nationally in defensive efficiency. The Pac-12 team with roughly the same type of efficiency numbers as Tulsa would be Colorado, a team that UCLA beat in their two meetings by an average of 15.5 points per game. Tulsa will certainly test UCLA, but the Bruins are used to playing teams with defenses in the same vicinity and then going out there and simply outscoring them. Plus, for whoever winds up seeing UCLA across the court from them this postseason, the big question is: who checks Kyle Anderson? An answer is not immediately apparent for the Golden Hurricane. Looking further down the line for UCLA, Virginia Commonwealth potentially awaits in the round of 32, a team that can cause all sorts of matchup problems in a quick turnaround. And if the Bruins are fortunate enough to get out of the first weekend, they can expect to see #1 overall seed Florida in the Sweet Sixteen. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but that is an utterly winnable game for the Bruins.

Read the rest of this entry »